In Andorra we find we have no mobile phone coverage, which is unexpected for a country in the middle of Europe, but Andorra isn't in the EU and things are a little different here. My Australian Sim does not work at all and my British Sim works but has outrageous charges. Given the size of the country, neither mobile company it seems has cared to setup a full roaming agreeing with Andorra Telecom. For us it makes little difference as we have wifi in the apartment, but is a good reminder to check the small print and be careful. Stories of $1000 roaming bills are a thing of the past but Andorra T sucked up a few pounds of credit I had on my UK sim card before I realised I wasn't using my normal roaming ... read more

After the paragliding trip, we decided to make our next stop in the southern French Alps at Serre Chevalier. We chose this place as J had spent a ski season here and was keen to see the place again. It is also a convenient 3 hour drive from Annecy over another of the famous TdF cols – the col Galibier (2642m) so a very serious pass. Serre Chevalier still has an early season feel to it (ie most things are still shut until the 1st week of July), but there is enough open to make the stay enjoyable. We have rented a great value, but small, ski apartment in Villeneuve which is fine for us but would be a squeeze for 4 which is what it is meant to take. Serre Chevalier feels like a cycling ... read more

It is a little strange being back in Europe and blogging my travels, but whilst covid remains a risk the reality is that some destinations are still not yet feasible for travel. This morning we caught Le Shuttle from Folkestone so perhaps this entry should have been titled "under the channel". But at least we have made it to France without any problems a pleasant change from the past couple of weeks after I tested positive to Covid just after the Queen’s Jubilee long weekend. We decided to isolate instead of visiting friends in the south of England and it has worked out well, spending a few days on the south coast seeing places neither of us really knew and discovering that HG Wells had lived in Folkestone. Remarkably J never tested positive so perhaps she ... read more

We made it to Gondar – the Camelot of Ethiopia. The trip here wasn’t too bad but ended up being 4 step journey and as expected a long day as buses leave at 5am! It turned out to be a easier than I expected as we didn’t have much waiting time and once we reached Gashena about 2 hours south of Lalibela, the roads were excellent (the road is called the Chinese road – built quite recently by guess who). The only annoying part of the trip was that our bus does not take us all the way into Gondar but drops us about 10km outside meaning we need to take a local bus into the town. The town here is something of a revelation after Lalibela. We are staying in what could loosely be described ... read more

The rock hewn churches of Lalibela are considered to be Ethiopia’s number one tourist attraction. They are also on a suitable circuit for us to travel in the relatively short time we have here. Most tourists choose to fly to Lalibela from Addis Ababa as by bus it takes a day and a half. We decide, of course, to go by bus. Lalibela is not much of a town, but for some that’s part of the appeal. The churches are tourist sights but they are also places of active local worship and it you are here at the right time you witness some extraordinary gatherings. Though these are Christian churches, it’s also Orthodox Christianity and is a very different style of worship to what we in the western world are used to. On one of the ... read more